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Odd Computer Behavior (Version 2.0)...

Okay, I have a computer problem and I can't figure it out. Let me run it by you all, and see if we can't hash it out together:
Whenever I try to play a music CD on my Windows Media Player, it won't work. It used to start playing the disc the moment the drawer closed, but now the disc just sits motionless in my computer. It won't even start when I click "Play." Nor can I rip tracks off my CDs to my hard drive, or even burn new discs, using WMP.BUT...
I recently installed the "Winamp" CD player software on my computer and set it up. And when I went to rip songs from my CD collection onto my hard drive last night, it worked perfectly. Same thing when I went to burn a new disc. I selected a playlist for the CD; clicked "Burn," and watched as it made me a brand-new compact disc, which played just fine in both my CD boombox and my car stereo.
Now it's obvious that the hardware on my PC for playing, ripping, and burning tracks is working just fine - as my success with Winamp has proven. Could it be that something's wrong with my Windows Media Player software, and is there something I can do to fix it (short of having to erase the whole hard drive and installing new Windows software)? I've already tried downloading the latest upgrade of Windows Media Player - that didn't help.
Any suggestions or ideas out there?
P.S. - I'm also having problems copying data onto a blank CD-ROM.

I agree totally that your WMP is acting up. I"ve never liked the program that much myself, and have found it at times to act up just like this where it can't operate the actually drive for some crazy reason and then you would have to use another program that will. That's why I use PowerDVD to play my video, and Roxio software to burn my discs. Granted, you have to buy the software, but I know those programs will work every time. WMP is just too flaky, I think, and just doesn't work that well.

I agree totally that your WMP is acting up. I"ve never liked the program that much myself, and have found it at times to act up just like this where it can't operate the actual drive for some crazy reason and then you would have to use another program that will. That's why I use PowerDVD to play my video, and Roxio software to burn my discs. Granted, you have to buy the software, but I know those programs will work every time. WMP is just too flaky, I think, and just doesn't work that well.

So it's happened to you too, huh? I'm relieved to know that since it means I'm not the only one this has happened to. Sounds to me like the best way to deal with this is to use other software - like you and I have already done - and just ignore WMP. Fortunately, I was able to transfer the music files I'd already ripped using WMP over to Winamp, without losing any of that. I'd hate to have to download that stuff all over again.

Yeah, that's the problem with a lot of the free software out there. You get what you pay for....

How true! Fortunately, the Winamp software I got for free works very well. However, if I wanted to convert my music files to MP3 format, I'd have to buy the Winamp Pro. But since the disc I just burned works fine in my boombox & car stereo, and I don't own an MP3 player at present, the setup I currently have will serve my needs. I can always upgrade later, when I can afford it.

Yeah, that's the problem with a lot of the free software out there. You get what you pay for....

How true! Fortunately, the Winamp software I got for free works very well. However, if I wanted to convert my music files to MP3 format, I'd have to buy the Winamp Pro. But since the disc I just burned works fine in my boombox & car stereo, and I don't own an MP3 player at present, the setup I currently have will serve my needs. I can always upgrade later, when I can afford it.

Well, you can always try using iTunes...

I've noticed issues with WMP 11 myself lately. I used to use it to stream the Jim Rome Show all of the time, but these days, when it loads, I get no sound. Same thing happens with other streaming media. For Rome, I've had to switch to using RealPlayer, which I wouldn't mind except for the fact that it has a habit of skipping segments sometime (i.e. it would go from Hour 1 part 4 to Hour 2 part 2).

And, of course, I haven't been able to find out anything about this problem yet, and Vista won't let me downgrade to an older version. *grr*